Seat belt age

Hi can anyone tell me what year seat belts became law will my 1972 series 3 need them or not ?

Anchorage points had to be fitted from '65 and the 3-point belt fitted from '68

The wearing of seatbelts became compulsory in 1985 i believe, but if your vehicle had them fitted as standard they are subject to testing as beneagles stated from 68 for three point fixings.

Without wishing to hijack this thread... does anyone know of a way to fit seat belts on the back, bench style seats of an 88" hard top? Are tehre any kits available. Can't find any myself.

mrwoppit said:

Without wishing to hijack this thread... does anyone know of a way to fit seat belts on the back, bench style seats of an 88" hard top? Are tehre any kits available. Can't find any myself.

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nope never been done ur the first person ever to even think about doing this. Let us know how ya get on. you could be onto something big ???

mrwoppit said:

Without wishing to hijack this thread... does anyone know of a way to fit seat belts on the back, bench style seats of an 88" hard top? Are tehre any kits available. Can't find any myself.

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Harness type are the only ones worth fitting on a side facing seat.

Try PMing Vilguy

Thought only lap belts were recommended for side facing seats?

SpringDon said:

Thought only lap belts were recommended for side facing seats?

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i think you're correct

the reason being that the neck would be subjected to too much force in an impact and be at serious risk of snapping with the upper body being restrained

NiteMare said:

i think you're correct

the reason being that the neck would be subjected to too much force in an impact and be at serious risk of snapping with the upper body being restrained

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Some useful opinions here

IMO an unrestrained passenger, though legal in side facing seats (except children) are the greatest risk but with lap belts in an 88 the truth is an adult is going to headbutt those in the front at impact speed....seriously.....think about it....where is their head and upper body going to go?

being as i have a 109 van and the seats are at the rear of the body IF i carried any restrained passengers it wouldn't matter what belts i put in, they'll be too short for thier heads to hit me

but being serious, i do remember a thread or two on other forums where the merits of seatbelts in side facing seats was discussed and the general opinion was for lap belts being the recommended ones due to the forces put on the restrained bodies, there was no discussion about headbutting the driver or front passenger

my biggest risk is the amount of loose junk i carry in my tub

You might want to have a read through this thread,

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/showthread.php?t=201184

I put on a few links to government websites that had contradicting advise around lap belts in side facing seats.